July 28, 2008


This morning, we went and had your 5 year pictures taken. We spent about an hour at a park and it was hot and you were very tired of having your picture taken, but you knew that after pictures we were going somewhere special. You had a special day with Daddy and you've been asking me when we can have a special day together, so today is it. I wouldn't tell you where we were going but you were hell bent on figuring it out. You finally guessed half way there... The Beach! We went to Tunnel Park in Holland. It was a very nice clean beach with park and playground attached. We had a picnic and you had a ball swimming.
The waves were very small but you were shrieking with laughter when the pushed you toward the shore. I was pretending that they were huge and knocking me over. We tried making a sand castle, but your bucket broke and cut your leg and you were done with the beach after that. We headed over to the playground, but didn't play very long because the sand was so hot. On the way home, we stopped at Captain Sundae and got some sundaes. They were amazing, with tons of hot fudge and candy in them. Yum! Within minutes of the car ride home you were out, and slept the whole way.


July 26, 2008



Party! Party! It's a Tinkerbell party! Today was your preschool friends party, and amazingly everyone we invited came. There was Samantha, Maddie, John, Tyler, Breeanne, Abby, and Lily. We had Tinkerbell balloons, plates, and napkins. We blew up the inflatable waterslide and had the little plastic pool set out. You guys ended up using that to warm up, since the slide water was so cold. It was a beautiful day though. We had snacks, drinks, and cupcakes for dessert. I thought the boys would be the most rambunctious on the slide, but Abby and Breeanne won that title. For gifts, you got a Cinderella doll with horse, Care Bear, $20, Mylie Cyrus doll with locker, bracelets, jewelry box and bead set, and Littlest Pet Shop Clubhouse. I think the Littlest Pet shop was your favorite. We had goodie bags and balloons for everyone. I think everyone had fun, I know you did!



July 20, 2008

Happy 5th Birthday Elise! Today was your family party day. The guests included Grandpa, Grandma Denise, Nana, Papa, Gigi, and Aunt Allison. There were presents, presents, and more presents, and a beautiful Tinkerbell cake. You got Blendy Pens, Magnetix, a Tinkerbell purse, books, a huge coloring book, art set, clothes, bubbaloons, bike helmet and kneepads, and more. I think you had a great time, and loved being the center of attention. Nana fell in the pond which was hilarious! You showed off your hamster to everyone.



July 14, 2008

Friday, we went to the pet store and picked up your 5th birthday present. Welcome home Abu the hamster! Before lunch, we went to V.I.Pets to look at their selection. You saw a hamster that you really liked, so we asked the lady if she could take it out of the cage. When she saw what hamster you picked, she said, "I don't know about that one, it's kind of ... sassy?" She tried to scoop it out with one of its toys but it jumped on to her lap. It then proceeded to bite her finger and pee on her pants. I said, "Okay, we don't want that one. Can we look at some of the others?" She brought down 3 separate cages before we found a nice buff colored teddy bear that seemed very friendly. Mom declared, "We'll take it!" Later we brought Daddy back to the store so he could meet Abu and we could take him home. We brought a little carrying cage to take him home in. Well when Mom tried to scoop him out of his cage he bit me sooo hard on the finger it drew blood. I started feeling a little panicky about bringing this thing home, but we did anyway.
When we got home you were so desperate to hold him. We sat you on a chair with a towel over your lap. I laid his cage on it's side to coax him out then I set him on your lap with a cracker for distraction. It seemed to work because we were all able to pet him without getting bit. When he started running all over you, we thought it best to let him get aquainted with his new home. So I picked him up and proceeded to take him over to his cage. I then tripped over your vanity stool and about threw him out the window. Luckily, the hamster didn't get hurt (Mom was another story) and he made it safely into his cage.

We've had Abu out a lot over the past 2 days and he's only tried to nibble at you once. You are doing so well with picking him up gently and holding him so he doesn't get away. He seems to like his ball and runs on his wheel ALLLLLLL night. I'm just relieved that it doesn't seem to bother you or keep you awake. The cats are curious, but so far have not tried to jump up on your dresser for a closer inspection. I had to go in there last night and cover his cage up with a towel though because Rossi was too close for comfort. You love your new hamster so much. I hope he sticks around for a while. I already told you to be prepared because they don't live a long time. You seemed to understand. Today, we clean out his cage for the first time. I'm going to make you do it. You're getting so big so fast!

July 9, 2008


Today, we went to the zoo with Maddie, Karrie, and Nathen. It was HOT. I wish we had a cooler zoo to go to than John Ball. There just isn't a lot there. We did get to ride the camel though, and that was cool. Her name was Sassy. She wasn't very sassy. We had a picnic, and we got to eat overlooking Monkey Island, which is where Dada always threatens to send me if I'm bad. My favorite were the Bears, they always seem to be up to something. Your favorite was probably the petting zoo, because you got brush the sheep. You guys also liked the mister, which was spraying today to keep down the heat. We stopped at the playground on the way out, but you guys could only muster about 10 minutes of playing cause it was too hot.




July 5, 2008



We had a great 4th of July last night and we didn't even have to leave the backyard. We started out with the traditional smoke bombs, sparklers, snakes, etc. Smoke bombs were surprisingly your favorite. You ran through the smoke cackling and got covered with soot. We did some small fireworks, then Daddy brought out the big guns from Indiana. The Salisburys and McKenzies came out to watch too. You bounced from Patty's lap to Anne's during the show, while Mom went over to shine the flashlight for Dad so he wouldn't blow up any appendages.
It was great fun and you loved being up late with the grownups. Usually the sound really bothers you, but this year we got smart and put in your earplugs that you use when you mow the lawn with Daddy.